February 22, 2009

The stories in the Bible are not all created equal. They're not. Certain books, certain stories, specific passages have more importance and enduring meaning than others. I'm not suggesting anything heretical like we should be dismissive of certain parts of scripture; I'm just saying that there are stories and themes in the Bible that have more impact on us than others. Certainly the stories of Jesus' ministry and the Passion narrative have great influence on our faith. We turn to various psalms for support and comfort during difficult times. We turn to the grand stories in scripture to understand the majesty and power of God - the stories of Creation come to mind. We read about biblical heroes who do great deeds to inspire us - people like Noah and Abraham, David and Esther, Ruth and Mary. I would maintain that a few of the stories in First and Second Kings are on my list of some of the most beautiful and powerful images in scripture. In these books of the Bible we hear wonderful storytelling and beautiful prophetic messages of justice. We hear the stories of the great prophet Elijah and understand why he has been singled out as a prophetic giant. Let me give you a couple of examples that involve the prophet Elijah, but first, let's start with a broader view of what is being chronicled in First and Second Kings.

In these two books of 1st and 2nd Kings, we are hearing the history of ancient Israel in the 10th and 9th centuries before Christ. King David reigned over a united Monarchy, but when his son Solomon was on the throne, the country became divided. As a result there was a succession of over 18 kings who ruled over northern Israel before it eventually fell to the Assyrians. Of all the kings who ruled, the Bible tells us that none was more evil than King Ahab. Ahab married Queen Jezebel and took on her worship of foreign gods, even erecting an altar to Baal in the temple. The books of 1st and 2nd Kings chronicle the story of the people of Israel trying to live as the people of God in the Promised Land and how God deals with their successes and failures. Ahab had a lot of failure in the eyes of the biblical writers.

So, as we learn more about the King Ahab and his worship of foreign gods, the prophet Elijah emerges onto the scene. He comes out of nowhere and says to the king's face, there will be a drought for years because of your unfaithfulness. Sure enough, three years go by and there is no rain. Finally, after three years, God sends Elijah back to Ahab to say that now there will be rain. After proving that the rain is from God, the rain clouds gather and the rain comes pouring down. Now Queen Jezebel is angry. Her prophets have been dismissed and slaughtered and she wants Elijah dead. Elijah flees to Mt. Horeb and lives in a cave. Here is the first story of great beauty and importance found in I kings 19. While living in this cave, Elijah speaks with God and tells God that he is being hunted down to be killed. God instructs Elijah to "go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by?" Out there Elijah, wrapped in his mantle, experiences the great majesty of God's power through an earthquake, a fire and then finally sheer silence as God's presence manifests itself to Elijah. And then, God sends Elijah back to his job of being a prophet. There is an enduring image of God encouraging and revealing God's self to a frightened prophet.

The second story of great importance in these Elijah narratives is an obscure story about a man named Naboth found in I Kings 21. Naboth has the misfortune to have a vineyard adjacent to the palace, and King Ahab wanted the vineyard. Ahab offered to buy the vineyard from Naboth but Naboth said no - it was ancestral land that had been passed down to him and he didn't want to sell it. The king was sad but resigned himself to the answer; but the queen wouldn't take no for an answer. In beautiful storytelling, she asks the king, "Do you not govern Israel? Get up, eat some food, and be cheerful; I will give you the vineyard of Naboth." And she does. She masterminds a plot to get him killed and sure enough, once he is dead, Ahab takes possession of the vineyard. In response to this cruel injustice, God sends Elijah to confront Ahab and let him know that dogs will lick up his blood. Not a fun prophetic task, but Elijah does it. He confronts the most powerful man in the land about his evildoing and makes him pay for the murder and injustice that he caused.

In these stories we get a sense of the courage of the prophet Elijah. Here is a man willing to risk his life to speak the truth - first he tells the king that there will be famine for three years because of his faithlessness; then he confronts the king for allowing a man to be murdered to obtain his vineyard. Elijah appears to be fearless, and yet we know from these stories that he is not. He is afraid and sometimes he runs and hides. Yet, his fear does not outweigh his determination to be the voice of God. That is why when we get to the story of today's lectionary, we understand why Elisha, his prophetic successor, is so worried. Everyone around him keeps telling him that today is the day that Elijah will be taken away. Elisha is so worried that he is not up to the task and Elijah senses this. Elijah asks Elisha, "Tell me what I may do for you, before I am taken from you."

You know that Elisha could have asked for anything. What he does ask for is a double portion of Elijah's spirit. Elisha wants to be able to do what Elijah has done without wavering or failing. Elisha wants to wear the mantle of Elijah and be able to fill his shoes.

I'm just taking a guess here but I have the sense that Elijah is a bit relieved to hand over the mantle of prophecy. It's been hard and his life has been threatened on several occasions. He hasn't made many friends that we hear of and maybe he is just looking forward to being done with his prophetic role!!! It makes you wonder how we would do when God calls us to act and speak up. When we are asked to be God's voice speaking up in defense of the vulnerable, objecting to greed and abuse of power, what is that like for us? Do we embrace the idea of being the prophetic voice of God or do we shy away from that task? Do we pray to God to give us a portion of Elijah's spirit and trust that God will empower and embolden us to speak?

It is tempting to read these stories of great prophetic characters and think that they are the ones that God calls to the prophetic task of speaking the truth ? but I don't think that is the case. The Bible is not a book that is meant to sit on a shelf and remind us of the characters who acted in the past. I believe that we are all called to live prophetically, to name abuse and object to those who lord over and marginalize others. Think of when you were asked to speak up. Think of when you saw something that you knew was wrong. Did you ask for the spirit of Elijah to confront the wrong?

We know that these kinds of injustices happen all the time in our lives - they are played out in little ways and in big ways. The little ways are the indignities and injustices of the playground, the workplace, and in the community where people get shoved aside and treated poorly. The big ways are the ones that get splashed across the papers and t.v. screens because their impact is so hugely felt by so many others. There are many failings by people in our world and many opportunities missed to right some of the wrongs. I was reading in the Sports section of the L.A. Times this week (Wed. Feb. 18, 2009 D1). It was a commentary on Alex Rodriguez, the highest paid player in baseball, admitting that he took steroids and lied about it. He said he was sorry and he said "I think God has put me now in a position, in a forum, where my voice can be heard. I hope kids will not make the same mistake I made." The sports writer Bill Shaikin says that Rodriguez should do more than talk about making reparations. He should throw a clinic in every city he plays in and tell kids he cheated and tell them why. He says Rodriguez should turn this into a training program for why you shouldn't give into peer pressure or a succeed-at-all-cost mentality. I agree. What a great idea. Be prophetic about your mistake - don't just pay lip service; take your incredible pay and support drug education and awareness and talk to kids all over the country who envy and support you. What if more of those in power in our world were pressured by the court of public opinion to do the right thing? The same can be said about all the corporate executives who have taken huge salaries and cashed out stocks as their companies were about to crumble, while those employees at the bottom lost jobs, lost pensions, lost homes. They are the kings of our time who shored up their own lives while being blind to the impact of those at the bottom.

Now, I don't know what kind of childhood Elijah had. We know nothing about him until he burst onto the scene and confronted the king the first time. But somewhere he got the notion that he had to be a stand-up guy. Who urged him to do that? Who encouraged him to speak up for the little guy? Who supported him in speaking up even when it might be dangerous for him to do so? Someone somewhere taught him to do this. We may have to encourage people to speak up and do the right thing and to name what is wrong.

So, what is God calling for you to do? Are you the person who is suppose to be urging someone to speak up, take the high road, or take the time to help the down and out? Is that your calling? Or, maybe you have been nudged and pushed to do something and you have resisted. Why? Is your fear greater than your desire for justice? What would make you care enough to get involved and stand up for what is right? Imagine what the world could look like if everyone named injustice and did something to rectify the wrong.

These are the questions that the beautiful stories of Elijah in the books of Kings raise for me. The mantle of a prophet is not an easy thing to wear. Maybe on some level Elijah was relieved to be done with it and more than ready to pass it on to Elisha. We know that Elisha was anxious about being able to do the things that Elijah did. These prophets are just like us in the sense that they were afraid and hesitant. But they spoke up. They sided with the poor and powerless; they tried to draw people back into a faithful relationship with God and they succeeded in inspiring many people throughout the last few thousand years.

Thanks be to God for these prophetic figures that remind us to be prophetic in our own time. Thanks be to God for these stories that were captured and written down to show us what it looks like to speak up, even at great personal cost. Amen.